Some time ago now I got a number of lots from auction over a couple of years where there was really feeble scratchy looking hand writing in the lots. It looked like the husband was ready to pass and was trying to value his stamp collection for the benefit of his wife......

Perhaps another way to look at it is that, in some cases, you may have rescued stamps from eventual destruction. I have purchased several collections where the stamps were improperly stored, stuck on the album pages, hinged one to another, smelling of smoke, etc. I have spent many hours cleaning stamps, removing hinges and paper remnants, putting them in proper mounts and mounting them for display in modern albums where they will be preserved for a next generation collector.

Thanks for the welcome Wheelman. The name comes from an absurdist comic strip that I drew as a young man, when I fancied myself a cartoonist of sorts. Not very good, I'm afraid, so moved onto music as a profession for my adult life. But at least it provided me with an internet handle.

I feel the need to impose my own idea of order to my stamps. It would drive me crazy to just have various collections around without going through all the stamps and using them to add to and improve my collection. I got a small picked over Newfoundland collection that was an beautifully done pages. My pages are not as beautiful but I like them to be all in the same format. I have a friend and fellow collector that I buy covers from occasionally. He usually has some nice notes about the cover on a sticky note attached to the cover. I keep those notes with the cover. The one exception I would say is I bought a collection of penalty envelopes where the penalty was applied to stamped envelopes (not just plain envelopes). These I have left as is, with their notes, but then they are the only ones I have right now.

I don't feel sorrow at all, but I don't normally go after nicely built collections. I tend to go after messy accumulations. Having said that, if I did buy a nicely annotated collection, especially if it pertained to my own collecting interest, and was specialized in nature. I would probably leave it be as a nice reference.

Mostly though, I would just disassemble an average collection without batting an eye. Afterall we are all just temporary owners of these stamps. Next man up!

I can feel sorrow at the live auction, otherwise never. You see people you are bidding against and it can bring you feelings. For example I won a $50 can item. I heard that I am non-member of a club but still I was allowed to bid and I won. Later in that month a dealer came home and I showed him. Do you have a good magnifier? Hand it to him. It took about 30 sec to find out it is very very slightly hinge (light angle). What! At the auction we coudn't check for that. I trusted the speaker also. You bet feelings. Daniel

Touches of regret over the weekend as I removed stamps from two albums I purchased off the Bay...an 1897 Scott International and a 1893 MeKeel's Stamps of the World album. The MeKeel album housed a very extensive collection once upon a time, from penciled value notations I think it had been raided of most of its goodies many years ago. It was a very nice album for its time though, more extensive spaces for BoB and envelope items than a comparable Scott's. I'm keeping both just as representations of period albums. Is there a thread anywhere on that subject...."best" antique albums?

Quote:I don't normally go after nicely built collections. I tend to go after messy accumulations.

Ditto. The sorting and organizing inherent in a messy accumulation is part of the appeal for me. I like the thrill of not knowing what I might find and of bringing order out of chaos. Buying a neatly mounted and organized collection seems somewhat clinical by comparison. Yeah, I get the stamps I wanted, but there's no additional "thrill factor" for me and it's somewhat boring in comparison to getting a big messy lot. Others' mileage may vary, of course.

I am often aware of the amount of effort and love people must have put into their collections - especially the older ones where they "built" their own pages and the amazing calligraphy used. Is a touch of OCD necessary for stamp collecting (yes, I do have some)? Neil.

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